Astronauts' Space Suits Have Special Pockets for Vodka

According to the Evening Standard, engineers build hidden pockets into spacesuits and fill them with pouches of vodka before blast-off, so astronauts can sneak the occasional nip.

The tradition is the result of celestial prohibition during space exploration's early history. When they first blasted off, Russian cosmonauts were able to drink freely onboard the Mir Space Station (according to The Drinks Business it helped keep their “organs in tone”). But NASA enforced a strict no-booze-allowed law on the International Space Station, leaving the Russians no choice but to secret liquor into the ISS by way of discreet space suit pockets. Now beer is banned on board (owing to the pressure within the cans or bottles) but spirits are A-OK (they don’t stain if they spill), and some space suits still have the clandestine pockets.

No word on the spirit brands that are currently being represented aboard the ISS, but it sure would be appropriate if the drink of choice were meteorite-filtered Outer Space Vodka.